Turkey's fight against ISIS

So far Turkey has opened its gates to refugees fleeing from Syria regardless of their ethnic or religious orientation. But, in any case, the refugees in Turkey should be reminded of the fact that they are under the protection of the Turkish government



While the major crisis on the Syrian border has turned eyes to the Azez-Jarabulus line, some forces, which took action to impose pressure on the Turkish government from various points by manipulating this chaos, are lately endeavoring to build a scenario through Yazidis. The picture they wish to draw is as follows: Turkey, which collaborates with the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), does not protect the Yazidis, who took refuge in its lands; a civil war will break out and Yazidis will be victimized. This is incomprehensible. Turkey is a country welcoming the people who struggle to survive. It does not make any discrimination between people whether they are Arabs, Kurds or Turkmens. No matter who takes shelter in Turkey, the country does its best to aid them. Despite that, there is an unbelievable wave of disinformation.In mid-2014, the Yazidis, who took shelter in Turkey after fleeing from the tyranny of ISIS, were struggling for life at the camps after the tragedy they experienced. Yes, nothing was easy for them. During my visit to Diyarbakır in September, I also paid a visit to the camps of Yazidis and listened to their stories. They thought that the government supported the Arabs coming from Syria while no one was protecting them. The majority of them were staying at Fidanlık Camp, belonging to the Diyarbakır municipality. They told me that they returned saying, "AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Authority) took us to a camp but there are Arabs there, we cannot stay with them."The same day, I saw the Minister Mehdi Eker and shared their stories with him. I asked him "Why don't you visit the Yazidis?" He told me that the Yazidis insistently wished to stay at the Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) camps and he was informed that the municipality does politics through them. After listening to the story, the minister visited the Yazidis the following day. This was the first contact from the government. He embraced them, tried to soothe them. He reminded them that they were also Turkey's brothers and sisters.I would like to repeat all of this, since the news from Diyarbakır tells that the Yazidis are now leaving camps and heading to the Kapıkule border gate. About 2,000 Yazidis wish to go to Europe. When asked why, one can see that they are in great fear. They say, "a civil war will break out here, they will kill us."Now, through the Yazidis, an impression is trying to be created which implies that ISIS is protected in Turkey and that chaos is about to erupt. They exert efforts to spread a perception suggesting that the "Islamist Turkish government deters Yazidis." The government must see this as soon as possible, and visits must be paid to Yazidi camps, just as Eker did if required. Also the Yazidis should be reminded of the fact that they are under the guarantee of Turkey just like the other refugees. The warnings are made against ISIS that they will be shot if they happen to approach the borderline. Turkey is working really hard on what kind of a military position it would take in the crisis in Syria. The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the government are spending their longest office hours to research that subject. There are threats like ISIS and People's Protection Units (YPG) just beside us. Despite all these threats, it is still necessary to explain the discussed steps and Turkey's struggle against all kinds of terrorist organizations loudly and clearly in order to overcome the perception which tries to show Turkey side by side with terrorism, as Turkey's greatest problem has been the inability to express itself properly in recent days.